Weekends

So, it's been a few days since I've blogged. My lovely 4 month old takes a lot of time away from me to be able to write everyday, but I wouldn't trade it for the world!  Love that little stinker!

So, weekends are awful for me food wise.  It seems like everything I've worked on during the week is completely null and void once Friday or Saturday rolls around and I throw all of the good food choices out the window!  I don't know why I do this to myself.  I haven't done terrible this week but made a whole day's worth of bad choices but got back on track the next day thanks to my wonderful, supportive hubby.  

I've finally decided that until baby boy gets older and can entertain himself for longer periods of time I am going to save myself my sanity and just focus on my eating, rather than trying to get a workout in too.  Because waking up early to get it all in before booger butt wakes up, isn't working out well at all.  I need to go to bed earlier to make that work, but that would mean that booger bear would need to be able to let me get stuff done during the day, and that hasn't happened.  And probably won't for quite some time...at least a month down the road.  So, I spend all my time attempting to get the things done during the day that I couldn't when daddy gets home and can take the little stinker so mommy can actually do some housework.

I wish there was some class that taught you how to juggle life with an infant and housework and being a wife and a good mother and being able to eat right and exercise more and still have your sanity at the end of the day...hmmm....anyone....Buelher.....anyone??

So today's lunch consisted of fried bologna and cheese with a slice of tomato, a smidge of mayo, on no bread, and sliced cucumbers and baby carrots.  It was delish!  And here's a picture!

I had told y'all in an earlier post all of the books that I was reading. I've really dove head first into A Course in Weight Loss and am loving it so far.  I've only done two chapters, but am really getting a lot out of it.  The first chapter was about tearing down the wall.  I love the imagery in the book. You walk up to a brick wall and there are words written on each brick, such as, shame, anger, fear unforgiveness, judgement, etc. Marianne Williamson, the author, then has you go through each word and write how it makes you feel and what each word represents: a thought, and emotional reality, or a character defect that pertains to you.  Then you take each word and allow yourself to identify the situations or circumstances that connects you to that word.  "Your fear has built the wall, and love will tear it down."  Then in the second chapter, "Thin You, Meet Not-Thin You" it is all about loving yourself, whether you're thin or pleasantly plump (I don't like the word fat).  And at the end of that chapter you write Thin You a letter from Not-Thin You, and then Not-Thin you respond to Thin You.  It is a pretty neat exercise....very cleansing if I do say so myself.  Anyway, there's my little book review thus far.  In a nutshell, the book is about getting your mind right when it comes to weight and once your mind is right and you turn that fear (generally why we overeat, etc.) into love, the pounds will start melting away!  We'll see if it works!

Hope y'all have a great weekend!

Suzanne

Time flies and things change

On this day, 3 years ago, I put my foot down and made the decision to better myself. Overall I lost 50 pounds and felt fabulous but wanted to lose more. Then a few weeks later I quit my job, cold turkey, because I was completely miserable.  I was unemployed for 2 months and during that time, I started to get lazy and the yo-yoing continued. 

In October of 2009, I started working at a doctor's office where 4 days a week, lunch was catered by drug reps and our patients showed their love for us by baking cakes, pies, etc and if you know me, I find it extremely difficult to say no to sweets. (I wish I didn't have this problem).  

My weight was up and down and then in July of 2011 I got pregnant.  Thankfully I only gained about 20 lbs during the pregnancy, but unfortunately it is because I was sick the whole time.  I gave birth on April 10, 2012 to a 5 lb 15 oz handsome baby boy, but he came by an emergency cesarean section.  I lost most of my pregnancy weight within the first couple of weeks, but then pretty much gained everything back.

I was only a pound or two from my highest weight.  Now 4 months later, I am only 5 pounds below my highest weight, but I never ever want to see that number again!  I CAN do this and I WILL do this!

Here is to a new, healthier lifestyle change (I hate the word diet!)!!

-Suzanne-

Is it illegal to post twice in one day?

Sorry I am posting again but I have all of this stuff in my mind that I want to share!!

I am in the middle of reading several books (yes at the same time!!) and wanted to share those with you in case you can glean some insight from them as well!

The first book that I am reading is:

The Paleo Answer: 7 Days to Lose Weight, Feel Great, Stay Young by Loren Cordain

This book really digs deep into why you should eat paleo and breaks down a lot of the common questions people ask about why they can't eat certain things and gives Loren Cordain's take on it and the scientific reasoning behind it.

He also has another book that is more of an introduction into what paleo is called The Paleo Diet.

Next I am really wanting to get into running and have tried the Couch to 5K running program but always find myself soooooo incredibly sore after the first day that I haven't had much progress on it.  So I found a book by Jeff Galloway called Women's Complete Guide to Running:

This book is written with his wife Barbara and it goes into detail about some of the problems women face when running (hormones, taking care of the household, body issues, etc.)

I am also going to start reading 2 more books.  The first one I was introduced to by a patient at my former job that she had a lot of success with weight loss by using this book.  It is called A Course in Weight Loss by Marianne Williamson.

And finally, I started reading this book a couple of years ago with a friend to start an accountability group with and life just got in the way of reading and of the group so me and another friend are going to start reading this together (thanks Exie!).  It is called Made to Crave: Satisfying Your Deepest Desire with God, Not Food by Lysa Terkeurst. 

I am looking forward to finishing all of these books and hope they help me on my journey to becoming a better me!

Get me off this rollercoaster!!

I feel like I am up and down, up and down.  I want to put my foot down and lose this weight for good but I'm still holding on to something, but I don't know what it is.  I know what to do, and I know how to do it, but I'm still falling back into the trap.

I need support from others but I know I only need to do this for myself and my family, but I feel like I'm only successful when I have that support.  Will you follow me on this journey and support me in my efforts?

I want to do this.  I want to be successful.  I want to be motivating and motivated.  I want to inspire and be inspired.....but I need YOUR help!

I can't have anymore excuses.  I need to make my mind up and do it and stop the whining and complaining, because I am the only one that can change this.

For my sanity, I need to set small, realistic goals that are achievable, instead of saying I want to lose x amount of weight overall or be in a size x.

Please help me on my journey to become a better mother, wife, daughter, and sister to my family!

Keep on keeping on

So, I am ashamed to say, but this is me.  It is crazy what pregnancy does to your body.  But I can't blame it all on my little man.  Most of it was mommy's poor eating choices.  But I will never go back to looking like this again!  I am on a journey that I know isn't going to be easy (I've done this all before!!) but I am willing to put forth the effort to do so.  So here is my "before picture".  At a horrible 214 pounds.  UGH!


I didn't work out yesterday but I did eat fairly clean.  For breakfast I had bacon and eggs and a bowl of paleo cereal (slivered almonds, frozen blueberries and strawberries thawed, and coconut milk...delish!!) and a cup of coffee with 2 TBS of French Vanilla creamer, and for lunch we went to a local place called Plantation House....here is where I cheated a little bit.  I had a turkey burger on a wheat bun with ketchup, mayo, and tomato and broccoli salad with unsweet tea with 3 sweet-n-lows and a wait for it............gasp..........banana pudding cupcake.....heavenly!!! For supper last night at church I ate 1 hot dog (no bun) with sloppy joe mix on top with a bit of shredded cheese and a salad with spinach and lettuce and a diet mountain dew to drink.  Today for breakfast I had an oikos greek yogurt (blueberry fruit on the bottom), a bowl of paleo cereal and 1/2 c. of coffee with a little bit of lactose free milk and 1 equal and 1 sweet-n-low.  Right now I am eating lunch and here it is:

Sliced honey ham Oscar Meyer lunch meat, broccoli slaw, and sliced tomatoes with salt and pepper.  And I am drinking water with it.  

I just got done working out and had the BEST workout!  I did an AMRAP (As Many Rounds as Possible) in 20 minutes of:  10 thrusters (bar only), 10 SK2E (standing knees to elbows--left/right=1), 10 bridges, 10 dumbbell boxers with 10 lb. dumbbells, and 10 KB cleans (each arm).  I completed 5 rounds.

Well, time to get back to cleaning the house while little man is napping.  Take care!

Jumping back on the wagon

So first of all, let me start by telling you a little bit about myself.  My name is Suzanne.  I am a mother to my beautiful baby boy, a wife to my awesome husband, a daughter to my wonderful parents, a sister to my fantastic brother, but most of all, a child of God.


In 2009 my parents started training with a personal trainer doing CrossFit and adopted a paleo lifestyle and each lost about 60 lbs.  I too jumped on the wagon and lost 50 lbs and was finally starting to feel comfortable in my own skin.  I got down to 165 and wanted to go even lower.  But my life took some crazy turns and I ended up quitting my job and was unemployed for about 2 months when I started working again at a doctor's office, where I went from running around chasing 3 kids that I babysat to a sedentary office job with drug reps bringing lunch all but one day a week.  I very quickly started gaining the weight back and then low and behold in July of 2011 I got pregnant with our first child.  Thankfully I only gained about 20 lbs, but I was sick the entire pregnancy.


Now our son is 3 1/2 months old. I wasn't able to breastfeed but the first 4 weeks, I am well passed my 6 week check-up and have been cleared to start everything back, but I am finding it so incredibly hard to get the dedication and motivation back to start working out and eating healthy again....especially with a very needy 3 1/2 month old.  


But today, I put my foot down.  I already have high blood pressure so this isn't something to mess around with.  My goal is to completely get off of my BP meds and overall just get healthy.  I would like to start training for a 5K, not necessarily so I can do one, but just to say that I can actually run!!  I have never been a runner in my life and have seen all of the health benefits that it can provide to be able to run.  Plus, I would just love to say that I am a CrossFitter and a runner.  :)  


I woke up this morning and had my cup of coffee, ate my breakfast (a banana and 3 hard boiled eggs) and put my son in his bassinet for some tummy time while I did my first workout to the new me (again!).  


I did 21-15-9 of:
10 lb kettlebell swings
goblet squats with a 10 lb weight
push presses with the bar only
and sit-ups


It took me 7:35 to complete this exercise.  I know it wasn't a long workout but I definitely feel like I did something and it was a good start.


I just finished my lunch and had a little bit of chicken salad and a bowl of strawberry and spinach salad with water to drink.


If you are interested more in what paleo and/or crossfit are, check out the links below.


 What is CrossFit?


What is the paleo diet?


So, here is to the new me!  NO MORE EXCUSES!!!